In England and Wales, the Flood Outlook offers a flood prediction for the upcoming month. It comes out twice each month.
We have been working with our users to improve the utility of our Flood Outlook service over the past 18 months.
The end result is a revamped, more understandable, and contemporary-looking product that is backed by fresh training resources.
This project reacts to:
our users’ desire for longer-term forecast information is growing
‘We evolve our services to maximize their value,’ says our strategic plan.
Product creation
Extensive user and prototype testing served as the foundation for the revisions. They consist of:
Modifying the flood forecast presentation to aid in improved decision-making
Reorganizing the home page to make it easier to access the most crucial information
Redesigning the layout to arrange related information together in a new way
Presenting the data in a more contemporary and straightforward manner
Adding a navigation bar to make it easier to navigate the document
To give an overview for England and Wales, the Flood Outlook will continue to be based on a national scale evaluation.
User studies
The modifications reflect the results of our user research:
Because of the existing product’s frequent indications of “low” risk and its ambiguous terminology, decision-making is not supported.
It is challenging to rapidly recognize the most crucial information due to the layout’s monochrome color scheme.
A requirement for a more user-friendly forecast presentation using color codes
A request for additional details on spring tides and the six- to ten-day time frame
They also take into account the following hydrometeorologists’ comments:
That because projecting “major consequences” is necessary, there is a tendency to predict “low risk” too frequently.
A requirement to be able to share forecast knowledge that consumers could find beneficial.
To better illustrate the forecast accuracy at this range, the forecast for the previous two weeks was reduced in time steps.